Ashley Bilke
Artist Statement
Ashley Bilke is an artist who enjoys experimenting with the creative process and multiple mediums. Bilke is currently working with watercolor and digital painting coupled with photography. Bilke also regularly sculpts with "nontraditional" materials such as branches, fabric, leather, and fur. Bilke's goal is to use her work to bring a sense of whimsy and imagination to the world around us, to help the viewer question just what, exactly, could be around the next corner. Bilke is an alumni of the Kansas City Art Institute, 2016, with a focus on illustration and puppet building. Bilke's work has been featured in the Center Spiral Magazine and Lesbians are Miracles Magazine. Bilke has worked on multiple Public Art installations including the Spirit Tree in Joplin, MO, and The Butterfly Effect: Dreams Take Flight mural in Joplin, MO, as well as multiple murals that can be seen at the Kansas City Renaissance Festival. Bilke has participated in the RAW artists exhibitions and has won the Silicon Web Costumers Guild Dreamcatcher Award for Puppetry Innovation (2016), The World Science Fiction Convention Masquerade Award for Excellence in Puppetry (2016), The MidAmeriCon Hall Award (2016), and the Maker of Merit award at the Kansas City Maker Faire (2016, 2017).
Bilke is currently residing and creating in Bethany, Oklahoma, and is working on a series that showcases the local flora and fauna.
Ashley’s work was featured in our Spring 2021 Group Exhibition, on view March 5 - August 1, 2021.
@blackfeathrart
